Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

Hope. Love. Home. Sanctuary

chimpanzee

Happy Birthday, Dalyce!

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Today’s day of sanctuary was sponsored by Dalyce Kowalski! Dalyce is a great friend to the chimpanzees and in celebrating her own birthday today, she has chosen to give the chimpanzees a special day! Dalyce shared this sweet note:

“I really just wanted to have a day for the chimps to have a party.  I know how much they love a party!”

Dalyce, thank you for such a generous and compassionate gift for the chimpanzees! They definitely love a party! It makes it all the more meaningful that you are choosing to celebrate your own life by making a difference in their lives. All of us here wish you the happiest of birthdays!

Queen Negra hopes you enjoy your day and if you need any ideas, she has some suggestions:

Eat your favorite foods:

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Stretch out and relax:

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Play bite your friends:

Negra and Missy playing

Enjoy a moment of solitude in nature:

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Snuggle with a cozy blanket:

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And birthday naps are always a good idea:

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Positive Reinforcement Progress

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It’s been seven months since we started our Positive Reinforcement Training program. In that time, both the chimps and the staff have learned a lot.

We, the staff, have learned that training is a difficult skill to develop. As we try to teach new behaviors to the chimps, we are often just as confused and frustrated as they are, if not more so. It takes a lot of patience, creativity, and most importantly, experience, to become a good trainer.

The chimps have learned dozens of behaviors that will make their lives healthier and happier, and they’re starting to discover that cooperating with physical exams and other medical procedures doesn’t have to be scary – it can even be fun.

For his part, Burrito still thinks this whole thing is too good to be true – getting praised and rewarded with food, just for showing us his teeth? He would have done that for free…

But Burrito is not the only one making progress – stay tuned for updates on Annie, Foxie, Jamie, Jody, Missy, and Negra in the coming months.

Missy Uncaged

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This was Missy in her transport cage on her way to the sanctuary in 2008. This cage isn’t much different than the cages she had lived in for the previous 30 years.

missy on transport cage

We didn’t yet know Missy well on that day in 2008, but we would soon come to learn that she wants nothing more than to move her body. She is a natural athlete, packed to the brim with energy just waiting to be released in a sprint or leap or swing on the fire hose. It is almost impossible to imagine what those decades in cramped laboratory cages were like for her. She must have felt stifled and confined in the worst way.

Seeing her take advantage of the wide open spaces at the sanctuary these days never gets old. This morning, a tire swing way at the top of Young’s Hill caught my eye as it swayed back and forth, and I momentarily wondered what had set it in motion since it’s a rare windless day in Cle Elum. After a second I spotted Missy perched on the climbing structure, just a speck on the landscape.

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Forages All Day

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Each day there is a theme for the enrichment we give the chimpanzees. Having a daily theme helps to ensure that the chimpanzees do not receive the same items each day and also helps keeps life for them interesting. We always try to include favorites, such as boots and troll dolls, and of course they receive many fresh blankets each day so they can make cozy nests. In addition to these staple items we might wrap their toys in blankets for them to unwrap or decorate the floor with chalk art. Today the theme is “forage all day,” so the chimpanzees started their day with a breakfast forage in the greenhouse!

Annie (left) and Foxie (right):

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Jamie (center) found an orange slice hidden in the hanging tire (Annie to her left, Foxie to her right):

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Missy:

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Negra:

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Jody:

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Burrito:

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It’s hard to believe…

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… that Burrito, Missy, Jamie, Jody, Annie, Foxie, and Negra were ever thought of as a means to an end in biomedical testing.

Thanks to everyone who has supported Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest and allowed these seven chimpanzees to learn how to be chimpanzees, to learn who they are, and to be able to live in a home full of love and freedom. This video, as always, is for you!